Crazy Girl
by nikonic
Summary: Eliot reaches out to the crazy thief after a fight. Tags for one-shot and established relationship


Author's Note: I don't usually write song fics, but I stumbled across this song on shuffle and it just fits. As always, I would love to know what you think. The song is Crazy Girl by Eli Young Band.

Disclaimer: No infringement intended.

_Baby why you wanna cry? _

_You really oughta know that I _

_Just have to walk away sometimes._

The silence seems to echo, and it is such a drastic change from the last hours of loud voices and yelling that it startles him into action. He doesn't know how she moved so quickly, how one moment she was standing in front of him, red-faced and angry, and then next she was out of door with a tattered stuffed rabbit in hand. Years of working together, you would think he would stop asking that question entirely.

He is out of the chair, following after her in a heartbeat. Because for all of his anger, it all evaporates when he faces the reality of her leaving. The thought of being alone, of being without her, propels him forward. They have both walked away from arguments, sure, but this is different. It feels different; maybe it's in the way she cradles her stuffed animal, attempting to absorb comfort from her childhood safety net. Maybe it's in the way her shoulders tremble with the slightest hint of heartache. Hell, maybe it's the argument itself.

"Parker, darlin', where are you goin'?" She stares at him blankly, as if she doesn't understand why he asks such a question. His grip on her elbow loosens; the last thing he wants to do is hurt her.

"I'm…" Her words stutter because really, she doesn't know how to verbalize why she's leaving. It's a gut reaction, an instinct developed out of necessity. The toe of her Converse roughs an odd pattern in the dirt. "I don't know where I'm going."

"Then don't go. Hell, darlin', even if you know where you're goin', don't go."

_We're gonna do what lovers do. _

_We're gonna have a fight or two, _

_But I ain't ever changing my mind._

"I was leaving, so you don't have to. This is your house."

"Why do you think I'm leaving?" He itches to reach out and hold her, to wrap her in his arms and protect her from everything. "Darlin', we're gonna fight. It's bound to happen. It doesn't mean I'm gonna up and leave."

The sentiment is one for which she is unfamiliar. She grew up witnessing the bad side of the foster system. Arguments between foster parents usually led to placement in new foster homes as the old ones disintegrated in divorce and lawsuits. Abandonment was the name of the game. Even now, years and years later, she fights her instincts when she finds herself placing more and more trust in her teammates. With Eliot, it's so much more than that. It's so far beyond trust and companionship that she can't begin to describe what he means to her; words aren't sufficient, not that she would know how to verbalize the feelings to begin with.

"I promise, I'm not goin' anywhere, Parker."

_Crazy girl, don't you know that I love you?_

_I wouldn't dream of going nowhere._

_Silly woman, come here; let me hold you._

_Have I told you lately I love you like crazy, girl?_

She still shuffles in a worn dirt patch in their front yard. He finds it endearing, and he can't resist the urge to hold her. One hand intertwines in her golden locks and the other presses against the small of her back. His lungs fill with her scent, and he feels himself relax in the slightest bit because after all the shit and all the arguments, she is still here in his arms.

When he pulls back from the embrace, she looks up at him with big blue eyes, clutching her rabbit in one hand. "I should know how to do this," she admits. "I don't know how this is supposed to work."

"I love you." The statement rolls off his tongue and warms something deep inside of her. His blue eyes burn intensely, and she believes him. She doesn't know what to do with the sentiment, doesn't know how to quantify such an encompassing feeling as love, but god, she believes him. She isn't sure how to respond. The emotion blooming in her chest, she thinks, is love, but she has no basis for understanding it. She tells him so, even if the words don't make perfect sense.

His smile lights up his eyes, like she just told him her deepest secret, and maybe she did.

_I wouldn't last a single day. _

_I'd probably just fade away. _

_Without you, I'd lose my mind. _

She wants to tell him more; she wants to tell him anything to keep that smile right there where it so rarely shines. The words are jumbled in her head and none adequately describe what she so desperately wants to say; she has always been better with numbers and science. This feeling and emotions category is intangible and messy. Numbers are clear-cut, black-and-white. Your answer is wrong or it's right. This gray area where feelings exist and words don't make sense and butterflies flutter in her gut at the warmth his smile stirs in her is so far out of her comfort zone that she doubts she could reach it with her longest zip line. "I don't know how to be normal, Eliot. I don't… There's something wrong with me. You've known it all along, so I don't know what you want from me. I don't bring anything to the table here. You don't need a thief… not in a relationship anyway, and that's all I've got."

"Parker, I'm different. Okay? You've gotta trust that. I'm not like your foster parents. I don't love you because you bring in a monthly check. I'm not like Archie. I didn't pick you because you're a natural, crazy thief. I'm in love with you because you're you. I don't know how to explain it any differently."

He paces a few steps. His hand runs through his long hair. Her eyes focus on his movements; she gives him the time he needs to process because in that aspect they're very similar. He isn't a shining role model of emotional stability or healthy management of feelings. Hell, it's a good day if his personal demons don't terrorize him from the depths of his memories.

"I don't want you to be normal. You wouldn't be you if you were normal, and for whatever reason, Parker, I fell in love with you, crazy and all. You don't have to know what you're doing because I don't know either. All I know is, for whatever comes next in this life, I want you there. The thought of living without you… It doesn't sit right. My days would be boring. They would bleed together. You make 'em worth living. Your craziness fills 'em with color."

He looks at her desperately, hoping his words hit the right note, because he doesn't know if he's saying the right thing or if he's all wrong and just digging his own damn grave. Taking a deep breath, he continues because he should say all he has to say, and she hasn't turned to run away yet, which he takes as a good sign.

"You drive me crazy in ways I didn't think were possible. You set me on edge and make me so damn nervous sometimes, and at the same time, just havin' you next to me calms me in a way that nothin' else ever has. You make me want to shout in frustration and laugh in happiness at the same damn time. You tie me up in knots and I can't ever figure out where you're gonna end up next. My control can't stand it, but at the same time, it's so damn good for me. I think I might just lose my mind if you left me now."

_Before you ever came along, _

_I was living life all wrong. _

_The smartest thing I ever did was make you all mine. _

"It's not a life without you in it. I want you in mine every damn day whether we're fightin' or laughin'. Hell, I don't care what we're doin' so long as you're besides me." He finishes his spiel with his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans self-consciously. His shoulders slouch forward as if carrying a burden as he waits for her response.

Moving as silently as ever, she slips in front of her, her lips on his. His muscles release most of the built up tension feeling her press up against him. He sighs against her parted lips because she is here and, damn, if he isn't the luckiest man in the world.

_Crazy girl, don't you know that I love you? _

_I wouldn't dream of going nowhere. _

_Silly woman, come here; let me hold you._

_Have I told you lately I love you like crazy, girl?  
_


End file.
